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| My Walk to the Il Gusto/The Beach/The Piazza |
Surprisingly, I slept well even with my foot in the bandage. I’d gone to bed two hours earlier than usual because I was shattered and I had no problems falling asleep.
I’d done the internet payment of my medical bill the evening before and sent the hospital the proof in a screen grab, wishing to demonstrate my trustworthiness. However, I reckoned that they would not trust it until the money actually came through, which gave me at least a day to try and change my large notes.
I decided I would go to Il Gusto for a drink. Although the Piazza Restaurant is cheaper, they weren’t able to change my money when I had a note for half the amount, so I didn’t hold out any hope of them having change for the large note I had.
My bandage was already getting quite dirty (I ended up sweeping my floors to minimise the dirt; I’d originally thought I would leave the cleaning until I had the lighter bandage), so I tied a Spinney’s plastic bag around it before going out. It wasn’t the most elegant solution, but it was functional and I’d seen other people with plasters do something similar in the past.
I tried walking with it in the lounge, just to make sure that the plastic didn’t make me slip, but actually I still felt quite steady on my feet, if a bit slow. And then there was a knock on the door.
Yes, it was the guy from the ambulance with my passport. So, very efficient service, but too efficient! Nevertheless, I feigned delight, because it wasn’t his fault that he’d effectively come too early. He kissed my hand as he entered, which I could have done without (a bit too personal for someone performing a professional service), but I still think he was well meaning.
He handed me my passport and asked me to fill out a form with my details on (name, date of birth, etc), which I duly did. He commented that my flat was very nice, which I appreciated and thanked him for, saying that I was very happy here. Inwardly, I was stressing on how to give him a tip to show my sincere thanks when I hadn't yet got the change. In the end, I took it out of my pool for taxi money, but it wasn’t as much as I had really wanted to give. As I handed it over, his eyes widened and shone, and I felt a huge sense of relief. He bowed and thanked me very much. And off he went.
Technically, I now didn’t have to go to Il Gusto, but I thought I may as well, partly to get out of the flat for a little while and also because I now needed to have some smaller notes for taxi fares.
As I went out, I felt like a celebrity.
First of all, I went through our reception area, and our receptionist asked me if I was OK.
Then I stepped out of the door and each of the shopkeepers stepped out to look. One of them asked me how I was, so I said I was doing OK. “Il hamdulilah”, he repeated twice. I nodded and smiled, but was inwardly puzzling to myself that this is what you usually say after someone has asked you how you are, not after you’ve replied, but I hadn’t looked it up to check after my confusion in the supermarket, so I was a bit unsure. It turned out that it was indeed what you say in response to “How are you?” and literally means something like “Thanks be to God”. I’m now confused as to whether he was just basically saying “I’m really pleased you’re OK”, which is what I'd originally assumed, or whether he was trying to teach me how to respond in Arabic to his question as to how I was! But he was very kind and sympathetic, which for me was the most important message.
After that, a guy I’d spoken to before who runs the diving school, walked by, waved at me, raised his eyes and nodded, at which point I greeted him to indicate that I had recognised him and he too asked me what had happened. He smiled and said I needed to be more careful, and went on.
Next, I passed the old guy who sweeps the paths every day outside our block. We exchange words each day, but I think neither of us really has a clue what the other one is saying. Anyway, he said something and gestured in the air and at my foot. I shrugged my shoulders, shook my head, frowned and said “not good!” and then smiled to indicate that I was actually OK. He said something else, I nodded and smiled and went on my way. One of these days, I will understand what’s going on!
I made it to Il Gusto – it took around 15-20 minutes to walk with my bandage on, so it was also useful to get to know how much time to allow to get about – and managed to have my iced coffee there fairly inconspicuously. The guy that had helped me there with the internet said hello as he passed. I felt blessed to be able to be sitting and having a superb view of exotic blue sea and sky and waving palm trees. The plastic bag stayed on my foot and although walking was slow, it wasn’t painful, so I can’t really complain.
So, that was my first day coping with my fully-bandaged foot. Only four more to go!
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